Last
Thanksgiving, Diane and family came
home to Ukiah, California to enjoy the annual holiday get together. In
phone conversations with Mom she was hearing the frightening news about
how our gift bamboo was threatening her garden universe. Determined to
ease Mom’s worry, Diane came prepared with the tools to corral the
rampant invader. The next morning with a strong French roast coffee in
her hand she admired the beautiful yellow culms and lush foliage of a
very happy Bob Young
bamboo knowing all the while that hidden from view, the active rhizomes
were creating a web of subterranean terror to the neighboring roses.

Ready for action,
Diane selects a hose and
lays out a planned boundary to the small grove that is about five by
twelve feet in size. After Mom’s approval the work begins. First, using
a mattock a perimeter line is drawn in the soil. Diane loves gardening,
so she is aware how difficult bending over to dig down into the soil
can be so she selects and uses hand tools that are easy on the lower
back.

The tool of choice for digging the narrow
trench is not the obvious shovel or even the trenching spade. These
tools require more bending the deeper you dig into the ground. Hence
her selection of the posthole digger and the steel bar
tool. They allow
you to stand upright and dig a trench to the required
24-28 inch depth with relative ease.

The first few inches are
not too
difficult. Diane uses a mattock and posthole digger to easily lift out
the
high-grade garden soil (Figs. 2 and 3). Mom’s garden is on an alluvial
fan
so the going gets tough once she enters the deeper soil. She needs to
loosen
up round rocks and even cobbles that are in a zone from 12 to 28 inches
down.
To do this she uses the steel bar
to bust up the hard ground and even slice through roots and rhizomes
(Figs. 4 and 5). Once the soil is loosened it is lifted out and put
aside with the posthole digger. She places the loose soil far enough
away from the
trench to not be a nuisance by falling back in while she works.

The work is tough and
requires her to move at a moderate pace. Most of the family sits around
and watches her work during the holidays. Frequent breaks are required
for refreshments, food and folly. After a few days of holiday digging
the 24-28 inch deep trench is cleared to a uniform depth and larger
tree roots sawn through to allow insertion of the rhizome barrier. The
distance around the perimeter is carefully measured and a length of
barrier with some extra is cut
and laid on edge into the trench. The trench is widened at the point
where
the ends meet. This is where the end clamp is assembled to secure the
barrier into a full circle.

Fig. 4 and 5

Fig. 6 and 7

Assembling the end
clamp is not for butter-fingers. Diane makes it easier by using two
pairs of vice-grips to hold the two clamp pieces in place while
drilling holes for the bolt to pass through the plastic. Put the
stainless steel nuts and bolts in place and tighten. Notice the ends
are turned inward and clamped with the two out sides facing together
(Fig. 7).

Fig. 8

Once the trench is refilled with soil then the
plastic should be trimmed to a uniform height about two inches above
grade (Fig. 8). This is to allow the edge to be visible or easily found
under the
decorative mulch. Then the soil is raked to grade and the whole area
watered in to clean up the mess and give the bamboo some welcome relief
after all the commotion from cutting and digging.